For most fashionable wedding guests, a "traditional" yankee wedding would be all unrecognisable. ​Marjorie's slight wedding diary was typical for brides of her time. The book failed to devote any pages to receptions or pre-nuptial parties. There was no area for a bride to explain her reception venue, the music vie by the band, or the meal served. Couples of that era most frequently married in their parents' home, typically on a weekday. The lavish affairs that area unit currently obligatory did not become in style till the Seventies.

This means the customs we have a tendency to currently decision "traditions" area unit fairly recent. The Saturday evening affair with dinner, dancing, centerpieces, and party favors isn't a long-standing tradition. for many fashionable wedding guests, a "traditional" yankee wedding would be all unrecognisable. Here area unit seven traditions that have modified the foremost over the years.

1. ancient weddings were on weekdays.

More than a century past, there was a rhyme that helped brides choose a date. Mondays were for wealth and Tuesdays for health. "Wednesday the most effective day of all, Thursdays for crosses, Fridays for losses, and Saturday for no luck in any respect." The 1903 White House prescript guide reminded young, society girls of the rhyme and conjointly noted that additionally to transportation terrible luck, Saturday weddings were really demode.

2. Weddings were early.

"High noon," assured the White House prescript guide, was the foremost modern time to urge married. lunch period weddings were sculptured when English tradition, and demanded additional effort than the late afternoon ceremonial, that solely needed a reception.

3. Receptions were ex gratia.

As late because the early Sixties, several couples were rejection receptions, although they'd a church wedding. The apply was common enough that the popular 1961 guide, Check List for an ideal Wedding, careful however the receiving line ought to be ordered "if there was to be no reception."
For many couples, the marriage occurred reception with solely some relations and witnesses gift. The 1879 guide, Wedding prescript and Usages of Polite Society, reminded couples marrying reception that no procession was expected. The couple entered the area and long-faced the marriage official along. Refreshments were usually served later on, however few families hosted associate degree elaborate meal.

4. Receptions were straightforward.

For couples WHO did host a post-nuptial celebration, receptions were usually restricted to cake and punch. there have been no passed hors d'oeuvres, current wine stewards, or course bars. Society pages in newspapers reported these straightforward events however treated them as elaborate affairs. At one 1961 North geographical region reception, for instance, the native newspaper reported that guests were served cake and punch "from a crystal bowl," a detail that was clearly noteworthy. The story even noted however the ice-cubes within the punch were formed like hearts.

5. The day was DIY and cheap.

At most cake and punch or breakfast receptions, relations were place to figure serving guests. This apply was thus common that newspaper wedding announcements even listed that relations doubled as workers. At one New Hampshire wedding in 1951, for instance, the paper noted however the bride's kinswoman and cousins served breakfast to any or all the guests. The guest list was notably massive – two hundred individuals — and therefore the bride recruited six aunts and 5 cousins to serve the gang.

6. oldsters did not invariably pay.

Etiquette books like the White House guide clearly expressed the bride's oldsters were chargeable for most of the expenses. And whereas such was the quality among several marrying couples, there have been several cultural communities WHO had different practices. Well through the Twenties, Italian-American grooms, for instance, were chargeable for paying for the reception, securing a home, and furnishing the new property. Some brides were able to choose the piece of furniture for the new home and send their fiancés the bill.

7. The honeymoon and residential took precedent.

Many fashionable couples pay important cash on rings and receptions, however neither expense is long-standing tradition. The 1909 Sears Catalog, for instance, had pages of rings, as well as "baby rings" that one purchased for modern infants. For ladies, there have been rings with pearls, rubies, sapphires and diamonds, however none were selected as engagement or wedding rings. a regular band was a band of gold, per the 1879 guide, Wedding prescript and Usages of Polite Society, that claimed to get on prime of the elite bridal trends.

Without a reception or ring to eat up prices, couples place their cash toward their honeymoons and post-wedding residences. Marjorie's wedding diary mirrored this worth. the insufficient book had many pages to record honeymoon recollections and paste images. the subsequent section was her place to explain the couple's new home and embody a photograph. Marjorie, however, selected to not do either. It appears the sole issue that mattered was that she and prophet Bowers were married.